BELLINGHAM - State Secretary of Education Matthew Malone paused when his audience erupted in a round of applause on Monday. The reaction followed a comment that rang true with many in attendance: “I think we test too much.”

Malone was speaking at the Bellingham School District's orientation meeting, and although he believes testing and assessment of both students and educators is important, he added, “What we are doing now is like assessment gone wild.”

There is, however, a happy medium that can only be reached by good communication between educators and government, he said.

Malone was the first of several speakers to address about 250 educators and administrators who returned to school Monday after summer vacation. Students are scheduled to start on Tuesday, Sept. 2.

Malone touched on a variety of educational issues and thanked the teachers for the work they do.

Superintendent Edward Fleury said he extended an invitation to Malone to visit after meeting him at a conference.

“I saw him recently at a superintendent’s conference and invited him … he lived up to his word,” Fleury said, adding that Malone hopes to visit each district in the commonwealth and return to Bellingham after school starts.

“I think today’s message was very positive,” Fleury said. “We are looking forward to doing a lot of good work this year.”

During his speech, Malone walked around the room engaging those in attendance. At one point, he wagered $5 if someone could correctly pronounce Lake Webster’s (in the town of Webster) original name - a bet he lost to Eileen Tetreault, the lower grade principal at the middle school, when she confidently and correctly pronounced Chaubunagungamaug. Unfortunately, Malone did not have the $5 to settle up.

He then urged the educators to utilize their Massachusetts Teachers Association representatives to provide the state Department of Education with valuable feedback on hot-button issues such as technology in the classroom, Common Core curriculum and MCAS vs. PARCC testing.

“I want to be supportive to unions … we really need feedback and we want to be open and engaged in dialogue," Malone said. "We want to hear about what is standing in the way of teachers so that we can remove it. We are here to help create a connection between teacher and student.”

In particular, Malone welcomes feedback on the Common Core curriculum, which he said he believes in because “it is the way to bring back science and social studies into the elementary schools.”

He explained that through improved communication between teachers and the Department of Education, the reasons behind programs like Common Core will be better understood and evaluated.

Page 2 of 2 - The ultimate decision of whether to use the MCAS or PARCC test will be made after evaluating feedback from educators, Malone said.

And finally, Malone urged the staff to enjoy their final days of summer so they can wake up at 5 a.m. next Tuesday and "run to work."